Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Afolayan woos corporate investors for October 1 in private screening

By Anote Ajeluorou

The intent was clear. Nollywood
is in dire need of new converts. She is in search of new investors. It
explained the complexion of the sparse audience made up mostly of top business
executives and upwardly mobile Lagos types. They’d come with a new enthusiasm
for the Exclusive Private Screening of Mr. Kunle Afolayan’s new offering, October 1.

Only filmmakers
Mahmoud Ali-Balogun (Tango with Me)
and Tunde Kelani (Maami, Arugba) were
the odd men out from Nollywood, and
Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Richard Mofe-Damijo, who
sneaked in and out, a fitting explanation for the lack of activity in that
state on the portfolio he has held for several years now.

Filmmaker, Afolayan and
General Manager, Terra Kulture, Mr. Joseph Omoibom were clear about the intent.
There’s a desire to woo new sets of investors to the sector if only to project
the maturity of the industry and be able to take it outside. The Cannes Film
Festival in the South of France just opened, but like before, Nigeria, Africa’s
largest filmmaking country, is absent. Afolayan’s October 1 and Half of a
yellow Sun are the turning point cinematic experiences needed to open the global
outlook for Nollywood. But their
experiences show that Nollywood’s
resources alone are not enough to take it to the next phase. Outside help is
needed; and it’s in abundance in the corporate sector. It needs digging deep to
unearth it.

That was just what
Afolayan and Terra Kulture boss, Mrs. Bolanle Austin-Peters are seeking to do
with October 1, a new experiential
film that takes Nollywood’s cinema
inches closer to its destination with the Exclusive Private Screening. More of such
screenings are being arranged for big business operators in the hope that the
USD$2 million budget for making the film could be defrayed with ease. Afolayan
told the audience, “It’s been a long journey, but thank God for his grace. The
budget for this film is USD$2 million. How to recoup the money I don’t know. We
made this film through our sweat and blood”.

As usual, Afolayan said
he got most of the money for the film from relations, friends, with support
from a few bigwigs like Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Elizade
Motors’ boss, Ade Ojo among others. It was why he and Austin-Peters were taking
the filmic gospel to new investors, who he said were largely less enthusiastic
about investing in films, just as they were non-cinema goers. He, however,
noted, “But support is 30 per cent. I raised the rest through blood and sweat.
Film is investment but it’s also art and recouping money spent isn’t easy. You
people here don’t go to cinema. So you can write the budget off in big cheques.
In any case, how many cinemas do we even have? So, we’re looking to go outside,
but before then, you need to see what we can do”.

Just before the
screening, boss of culture promoting centre, Austin-Peters noted how proud she
was to bring about the private screening of October
1. She stated, “This is a perfect blend of purpose coming from a highly
talented man. It’s a fantastic movie. This is an opportunity here for us for
something that is very unique, that has job-creating value for society”.
Austin-Peters recalled her experience staging Saro the Musical last year and lamented how technology failed her
coupled with its non-theatre performance environment, but praised the abundance
of talent on offer in Nigeria, as October
1 film also evidently indicates.

October 1 is a crime story told with ingenuity with a good dose of
politics thrown in for good measure. To stop the serial murder of virgins in
Akote, the departing British officer drafts in Danladi Waziri (Sadiq Daba) to
resolve the crime before the Union Jack is lowered for the Green-White-Green to
be hoisted up. Waziri’s finding, after a series of compelling and bizarre
events, is as astonishing as it has had reverberating judicial consequences for
the Nigeria that soon emerged from October 1, 1960 and till date, a Nigeria
still struggling for a foothold on its true destiny as a nation state.

It’s yet again
Afolayan’s quality offering after Figurine
and Phone Swap. Afolayan leaves
no one doubt about his directorial abilities in this film that will make for compelling
viewing experience when it eventually opens for the public. Like half of a Yellow Sun, it’s another look
at Nigeria’s history at that crucial point of Nigeria’s independence and what
that historic moment portended for the new nation. As he put it himself, “I
want to document history for young people to learn about our history. As a
people, how far have we learnt from our history?

“This screening is
to pitch the film for sponsorship. The film will go to cinemas around the
world. Any brand pitching with us will travel with the film. We’re open to
corporate sponsorship. The film will be shown in cinemas in Lagos and Abuja”.

Unlike some in its rank
of well made films, Afolayan’s October 1
boasts 100 per cent Nigerian cast and crew. The only foreign input is the
colour separation and mixing done abroad.